The Indian team, hard on the heels of their loss to Pakistan in the Champions Trophy 2017 at the Oval on Sunday, left for their tour of West Indies where they are to play a single T20 International and five ODIs in the period of June 23-July 09. The team did not return home, and had to take a flight to the Carribean from London. The squad, announced last week, did not have Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah who were set to return home for some rest. The West Indies tour is another leg of a long season for the Indians, who participated in the Champions Trophy after a long and winding IPL season. Their team will be led by regular skipper Virat Kohli. Mohammad Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Umesh Yadav made the cut in the pace department, while R Ashwin and Kudleep Yadav will be critical as the two spinners in the squad. MS Dhoni is the designated keeper, and Dinesh Karthik the back up keeper, and Hardik Pandya and Kedhar Jadhav the team’s all rounders. In the batting department, besides Kohli himself, it will be Shikar Dhawan and Ajinkya Rahane who will probably open the batting, with Rishabh Pant and Yuvraj Singh providing the much needed depth in the middle order.
Meanwhile, bowling coach Anil Kumble was in the news as it was reported that he was not on the plane with the team to the West Indies. His contract expired at the end of the Champions Trophy, but it had been extended to the West Indies tour. There have been many reports of disagreements between Kumble and skipper Kohli, and it has emerged that Kohli had conveyed “strong reservations” over Kumble continuing as India coach to the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC), comprising Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman, appointed by the the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
Off to the Caribbean @hardikpandya93 ? ? pic.twitter.com/d4PTubK9BP
— Shikhar Dhawan (@SDhawan25) June 20, 2017
Later, a report from the BCCI confirmed this stating that Kumble will rejoin the team after attending an ICC meeting in London on June 22 and 23.
